It needs to go dormant before a hard freeze. I would up pot it and bring it in to an area such as an unheated garage and let it go dormant. I would then plant it in the spring after the last recorded frost date for previous years in your area. My soil is red clay, I would plant it in a hole three times larger than the pot, or more. Amend the soil with compost and the soil removed from the planting hole, mixed thoroughly. If water stands, mound the soil. Plant the tree four inches deeper than it was in the pot. If your ground freezes, this will help protect the roots. Also, the buried stem will root and the plant will grow better.. You could also plant the tree maybe a month or so after it goes dormant. You must protect it from the cold this first year if you do. The figs on it now will drain energy that it needs to survive the first winter since it is not established in the ground. For any plant to thrive, you must take care of the roots first or nothing else will matter.

I agree completely with PPPLDJ. I only add this old adage from the orchard industry, "Plant a ten dollar tree in a hundred dollar hole".

Thank you; since I have lots of good pots and soil amendments I think I will put in a large pot and put in our basement (former fruit cellar in old farm house) since the garage itself could freeze... but one final question -- as to planting four inches deeper than it was in the pot -- I've read if you plant too deep you hurt the bark and "girdle" a tree? I'm confused about this whole issue. I think I tend to plant too shallow usually but I understand the bark system above ground is different and that if you scew it up, the plant can't make it? And then a nursery guy said, plant right at the "graft line," (this is on a purple robe locust I'm also putting in...) and that is WAY above the current planting line....

When time comes you can plant a few nodes lower and if it's
roots are circling when removed from original container before planting shallow slice the outer part of roots
(not deep slice) a few times
from top to bottom .
Martin

When you plant a tree in a proper hole, the root ball grows. Many trees you don't plant deeper than they are in the pot. Figs are different. In a hundred dollar hole the root ball grows and if you plant a few nodes deeper or about four inches, the trunk underground will also grow roots resulting in a larger root mass sooner. The sooner you get a large and established root mass, the sooner your tree will be more hardy and the sooner the improvement of fig fruit quality. Planting it deeper does not girdle the tree. Girdling is intentional removal of the bark and outer cambium layer of tissue. Girdling is used to create air layered clones. Do not girdle your tree around the main trunk! Do what dieseler said and shallowly cut roots that circle around the root ball. If you don't, they can grow tighter and choke the tree.